Beep beep, beep beep, Yeah

I started with a bit of research. I had guessed that the horn was probably in the trunk. In fact its in the front drivers wheel well. Theres no cowling or protection whatsoever. Its constantly exposed to road grime, mud, and water splashed inside the wheel well. Its no wonder the horn is prone to failure.

John S. Henry's site http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqhorn.htm was an excellent resource. He explains simply the various model differences and why the odd design choices were made.

Like the dome light, the horn is switched on the ground instead of the positive. They simplified the wiring by using the steering column itself as the electrical connection for the horn. Had they switched the positive in this configuration....ouch.

Wolfsburg backstage

The Wolfsburg symbol cover just pries up. Underneath you can see the center bolt that hold the steering wheel on the steering column. The three screws around the edge hold the horn ring on. They are also spring loaded underneath. The the brown wire is the ground. When you press the horn ring you compress the springs and complete the ground connection to the  steering column. I tested the steering wheel with a meter and it checked out. The horn connection saw 12 volts too. Really nothing left but to replace the horn itself.

New vs Old

As you can see the horn has seen better days. I ordered a new one,
again courtesy of www.jbugs.com.

I also figured it would be smart to replace the old and crusty rubber boots that are meant to protect the wire connectors.

Shiny

Theres the new horn in its place. The only thing left is to test it:

.

Helpers

Nothing exiting to report. The horn is definitely broken. Ive got voltage in all the right places,so its got to be the horn itself. A new one is on its way.

Let there be (dome) light

One of the first things I noticed was that the dome light didnt work. It seemed like a quick job to get the ball rolling. When I pried the dome light out of the headliner I soon realized why it didnt work: it came apart in my hands. The plastic was old and brittle, and the switch had come unmounted from the shell of the fixture.

This lamp is the 3 terminal variety: 12V on one side, with a three position switch on the other. It switches between a permanent ground (on), disconnected (off), and the door sensor (on when open, off when shut). Some varieties have two wire terminals while making use of the metal roof as the permanent ground connection.

I ordered a new dome light from http://www.jbugs.com/. I was going to wire up an led to replace the incandescent bulb, but soon realized someone had done my work for me. They make this wonderful 16 LED array in a package meant fit in the springloaded lamp holder.

old vs new

A quick swap of the slide terminals and its back in working order. Now I can see the interior when its dark.

Ermahgerd Bücher!

Given that Im an amateur, Im going to need to do a lot of research. I know a bit about engines, but nothing about body work or restoration.

I figured  VW books would be a dime a dozen, and if you need repair help thats true. But there seems to be very few restoration guides. I wanted something that would help me form a game plan for the project. I'd hate to do work like replacing gaskets and weather stripping only to have to redo it later after repainting.

I found a book that seemed to be what I need. Unfortunately its out of print and was only available in the UK. Fortunately I found a way to import a used copy (thanks internet!)

It arrived this week and is in better shape than I hoped. Theres a lot of information here about disassembly, body work, and common troubleshooting and repairs. Let the research begin.

As far back as I can remember

I always wanted to be a gangster VW owner. Growing up, I always admired the Beetle's humble class. I lobbied hard for a Beetle as my first car, but the right one never seemed to be available. There has always been a Beetle shaped hole in my life. My grandfather was a shadetree mechanic, so maybe its in my blood.

I was recently offered the opportunity to correct that deficit: a 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle. Shes in excellent condition for any car this old. Her name is Alice, named in respect for the lady who owned her for most of the last 40 years.

I intend this blog to be a record of the restoration of this car. Im an engineer, but have little practical automotive experience. A few years ago I changed the water pump and timing belt in a more modern 2001 New Beetle. It was a big project for me and I learned a lot. About halfway through I regretted not taking pictures and documenting the process. This blog is intended to correct that mistake.